Collapsible automobile closure



Jan. 13, 1931. E. M. BARKER COLLAPSIBLE AUTOMOBILE CLOSURE Filed July23, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. f/a Bar/rer ATTORNEY.

Jan. 13, 1.931. E. M. BARKER GOLLAPSIBLE AUTOMOBILE CLOSURE' Filed July23, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNE Y.

' 1'0 ing la backseat.

Patented Jan.I 1 3, 1931Y i,iaam i ELSA M. BARERQF DETROIT; y

pplicatiron filed July 23,

The subject matter o 'fthis inventi'on'resides in a collapsiblec'losurefor the rumble .seatfof an automobile of the ltype often termeda sportcoup or sport roadster. Such "automo-v f 5 bii-esempioya-Si-rigie'Sastre-r iwpcrthr'eqpassengers with a rearcompartmentenclosed by asuitable'. deckV which has a-eie'surf which opens up sothatotherpaSSengers can be seat'- ed in the compartment ywith theclosure forin- The invention contemplates an improved constructionembodying Aa frame Work-which oanfbe 'easily setup 'o r collapsed AsoYthat it can 15 conjunction with the frame Work ifs a 'covering ofsuitable material, 'such as canvas, which the frame Work supports, Yandthis covercan also be easily put into place or folded upfor Storage. Thearrangements of `various parts of 20 the structure 'aresuclivthatthe'samecanbe set Y up or taken downf'by `the occupants intherumble seat. gy A In the accompanying drawings.: Fig. Y1 is asideelevational yieWof an auto# mobile With a closure constructed inaccord-v ance with theinvention applied thereto.; f

Fig. 2 is a top plan view' shotiring` the fran/1e structurek andillustrating the same inpari'ially collapsed position.l Y ig. 3 isaperspective v' structure. f

Fig; 4 is a detailbf-u're cerner Construccin oftheframe f x Fig. 5. isaView taken substantially on `line` 5-'5 of Fig. 4, sh0wi`ng the cornerconstruction..V

.er .f the 'frame portion of theautomobile b ody illustrating how theframe isconnected thereto.

o Fig 7 is a similar sectionl taken on line ofFig. 1. F ig. A8 is adetailof -one of the members used for mounting the'frame structure.Figs. 9 and lO are Views illustrating a5-joint structure which is vusedin the frame. Fig. 1l is a' detail View kin section illustratf ing themountingof the cover.' Fig. l2is a detail seetionon line 12;-12015 Fgl.L

Fig. `13 is a sectional View taken through deck is"v hinged 'V'so I'that shown to proyidea restl for occupants Fig. 6 is a sectionalviewjtakengthrough through which thefend 'ofthe upright extends,A

` Wing-.nut is tightenedthe upright members laas. 'fser'ialira- A29`4.,'64.. l 'j -v ais-wp "ofthe com arrangerne',nt.` Y Y v. y In `thej-accomp'an-ying Y drawings f there is illustrating the curtain shown inFig. :1 t he`rear" `portionofy an autol mobile having a 'assed bodypera-'n l1, ofthe- :55

coupe type, Withv a rear deckprovidedyvith i n .f-mobilefon eachfsi'defof' thej 'deck opening, is

`'preferably provi'dedwi'th .l .f ajjroy'v'of` fasteners 145 which Vmaybe' of any lsuitable" type-fand vwhich',may' advantageously'b'e of ytherotating 'headv type for th'efast'ening of agr'ommet. Y .Vithin 'thecompartment opening at each iside oi' the' opening, the' automobilev isprovided with fasteningaeviC-@S'@aaif which 8.0. f' may take. the Aformof'a plate lhaving tubu'- v l vlar extensions 16, with 'tl1e -plat'eandtubular' 1 V"extensionsembedded in the Aautomobile frame member-17s@that the .platen liesush with the :edge'ofthe 'compartm'entfopening. y

Theco'llapsing frame structure forv the clo'- sur'e,'f 'as shown Fi-g.'3,. onsists lof: two upl .l rightsf 2Q, each 1"prov idedV with plate--21- hav'- l ing studsQQ.V Th'efuprifghts are preferably '9oadjustable'asregar'dstohighu andfor'this Y purpose each upright mayZbev` secured to its plate by means ofzan ap'erturefd Vbolt 123;

and which boltinajffbe tightened-by lfr v'ving nut 24. VIt 'Will benoted, therefore, that" the uprights `can be shiftedfandiadjustedverticalg lyY and angularly'b'y rotationof the b olt which extends-'tl'lroush fhffplat 2,12., When the are against "theplat' as shown inproper position by a sliding sleeve 26. The manner in which the uprightand cross piece are hinged together is illustrated in' Figs. 4

Y and rwhich includes an angularmember27 to which each is pivoted.` Thismember isv by pivoting the same outwardly as regards the angle betweenthem, as illustrated Abythe preferably of open channel formation withthe channel opening upwardly.- *Accordingly, the members 20 and 25canbefolded up dotted lines in Fig.V 5, andwheii the frameis set uptheni'einber27y positivelyflixes theV anglel which may besubstantiallyra Tight angle` between `the rvcross member 20 and crossmember 25.V f f These two uprightsare i':`ittedto theicar in a positionas'shown' in Fig. 1, 'with the studs 2,2fittingin the extensions 16..lVith the frame in-position as sli-own iii Figi), the cornei.members 27prevent upright 2O from in. lwardly collapsing and the lnormalgdistance.

between the two plates 21 may begreater than the transverse distanceacross the 'clo' is permitted by the springiness inherent in the squareformation formedby the upright andv cross members 25. lThis inherentspringiness tends vto force the upright'20 outwardly-so that the studslit inthe recesses 16.

:The frame also includes longitudinally eX- tendingvmembersSO each ofWhich, as 4shown Y in Figs 9 and`=10, 'isfcom'p'osedof two parts hingedtogether bym'eans of an intermediate@ memherlf Each of; the two partsfisbifurcatcd as shown` with the member 31; disposed between thevbifurcations `with' pivot pinsv .32 extending therethrough. Thebifurcations aro'ciit aiigularly thus having anjangularlyVdi'sposedbottom and the ends ofthe intermediate membcr Share similarlyangularly ldisposed. as at '34:` "Accordingly this 'hinge constructioncan break in v:one direction but isstif in the opposite direction in thenature members can hinge inwardly asshown in Fig.

lQfaiid when the two parts of; the .loi'igitudinal l members areinalignment they mayibeylield insuch alignment. by'sleeifes V35 'whichmayY uOneiendjof each longitudinal 'nieinbci SO V74has iba-ll and sockettype 'co'niiectioiiwith the Corner piece 2T and for this purpose eachmember mayha-ve a-ballshaped end 36 land one partvof the channel shapedmember VQZ-nriiay have; slotY 37 to .permit the passage of a smallportionk of `the member 30 next adjacent the ball. The'oppositewallandthe channel shaped 4member :niay be lar'iged inwardly as at 38 and theball may be snapped past this flange so that it is retained in positionindependently thereby.

The forward ends of the longitudinal i members arey adapted to beattached to the` tion and disconnecting the member-S from the' closure 1'and then folding these inein-' bersgcentrally on their pivotalconnection. The end frame structure may he folded up forstorag'eby'separatingthetwo parts of the cross piece 25 and'foldi'ng each asregards its upright 2O;V vBy utilizing the wordston -ageiy it isgineantthatthe parts -niayl be stored or. placed in a suitable compartment invthe automobile for fiisefgwhenevei' desired. To" setup theframestructure,.the cross pieces 25 Yare correctly positioned, regard theirupright and then the frame is sprung ,toper niit the studs 22 to snapinto recessv 1.6V vwhcreupoi'i the longitudinal membersv areconnected'by the 4'ball Yand soclietgconstruction with' this @sure 5,=sothat, finorder to get the studs 22 in j their recesses the plates --21may be forced inwardly towards 'each other'manually, which the SQS onthe closure 1.,) w

framev and the opposite ends ,conn'ected with feo vnumber,forhoolringfover thefcross piece 25.

,Av baci(` 27 may be integral with thetop 41, 'and Vthis drawindown.hack ofthe' back rest ,provided by theraised top ofthe deck'and,iswsecuicd by a suitable fastener-'28, one/on cach side of the declav fy and the upper coi'ner'of each flapi'inayfloe atits tached toftheni'einber 30`as^bynicaiisof hook 5lY andthebottoinportion mayA beattached to ,'tliedeckby a suitable fastener as at .fVItwillrtheijeforevbe 'seenthat a'ii occupant `this frame"andlf-putfthesaine1in place, and thenftakethe canvas?cover and attach the forwardedge to the ,loops Y10V andlift the same'over'lthe ci'osspieces' 2,5andnigile the Y attachments as at48.V LT he flaps may .then

be aa-acted as; at 5i' laila @afirme saone while the longitudinallmembers'l 30 are "slightly collapsed as shown in; Fig.J2. i Thus thecover is ratlherloose to .permit of easeV in maling'thefastening. Afterthis YisV done the, occupant-Y forcibly lj,straightens out; the

Yiii' thecompartment Sin'ay'veryeasily setv up members which forcesbackA the i'ear frame work, the sainepivoting on bolt y33 thus causingthe canvas to become taut whereupon the sleeves 35 are 'placed over the,elbow ]oint holding the members 30 straight Preferably this* closure isprovidedwith a curtain and 56 one on eacli'side of the automobile. Thesecurtains may be provided with a transparent opening 57. Vhen it isclearing the fasteners 59 `for .curtain 55.

YVhen the curtain is stored these curtains are 3 preferably in theposition shown in Fig. 13

so that they are not inV tlieiway when thei cover is set up as abovedescribed. v

When it becomes necessary, however, to use the curtains for protectionfronithe elements, they may be detached from the fasteners 58 and 59andthe lower edges secured tothe deck as illustrated in Fig. 12.' Forfie curtains, wlienin use are preferably also se- Vcured to the flapthis purpose each curtain may have a' flap G1 providedwith grommets forattachment to fasteners 14, the said forward edge'of each curtain mayoverlap the body 1 slightly for securing thereto by si'iitablehooksengaging `the loops 12 and 13.

It will be noted that the curtains caribe put into use and folded upwhen not in use entirely by the occupants in the seat of theV rearcompartment. The forward edge of thel curtains preferably slightlyoverlap the bodyl 1 and accordingly Vit. willbel seen that they arefolded up as illustrated A'in'Fig 13, the

edge folds up slightly but this does not in-l terfere with the foldingof the curtains.' The 5()y by a number of vfasteiiers62. Y f Y i Y y pIt will be appreciated that the fastening devices may take various formsand while the said forward edge of the closure is connected to the bodyby hooks and loops different fastening device may be used although thevhook and loop is thought to be advantageous for this purpose.' Theothei'ffasteiiing dc- Vvices may advantageously take the forinlof agrommet Vand headed str idf although here `a 'spring acting snapfastener 'can be used.y

rear of the fixed closure, which deck openable to aord anexposedpassenger compartment, a collapsibleclosure for this passengercompartment comprising a frame structure consisting' of upright membersdetachably connected to the automobile'body near the rear of thecompartment, a transversev cross e member Vconnectingl the upper Vends.of the members connecting the upright Vi'nembers with the lfixedclosure, a flexible cover secured atit-s forward ledge to the fixedclosure and supportedatits rearward edge by thesaid transverse member,said longitudinally ex-Y tending members being elbow jointedv and`upright members, longitudinally extending Y adapted to be straightenedout toeffect tight-Y leiiing of theflexible cover, means Yfor hold-V ingthe ointed members in rigid non-bending relation, means pivotallyconnecting the for-- ward end of the longitudinal membersfwith vthefixed closure, and a ball and socket con' struction for connecting therear ends 'of the longitudinal members with the said upright members yofthel frame i structure.- y

2. Aj collapsible top construction for a passenger compartment locatedin the rear deckv of an automobile body provided with a rela-V tively'fixed closure forward of the deck, comprising in combination a pair ofbrackets carried by the rear deck, a rotatable support-vl ing member oneach bracket, an upright.

member adjustable lengthwise in and carried tion a transverse,membercarried b the u i-y per ends'of the uprightrmembers, longitudinalmembersfvconnecting the upper ends ofV the upright members totherelatively fixed top, a flexible cover, means connecting the same to therelatively fixed top', means contransverse member, and means connectingthexcoverrto the deck,ra Joint in 'eachjlongitudinal member wherebyztherlongitudinal members may be straightened out to tighten l' theflexible'closure by shifting the' upright by each'rotatablefsupport,means yfor clamp- Y ving the uprightvinembersgin adpistedjposn i j lU`nectingl the same to; the transverse ,member, said cover extendingdownwardly yfrom the Y lll.)

members and rocking .their Vrotatable supports. o, ,t Y -l Intestimonywhereof I ailix my signature.

Ql ELSA. iitfBARKnR.

Y The frame work as shown herein is con-v structedofniembers in theformof rods which are round in `cross section. -Howeverf,

it will be understood that such membersniay 'i be otherwise constructed,as for'example, the

nature ofi-beams or tubes.V

What I claim is:

.1. For use withY an automobile having a: l body with a fixed closureand a deck to the

